Bank Syariah Indonesia
Asiamoney’s debut award for best Islamic bank goes to Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI), a firm that was only formed in February 2021 by the merger of state-owned Islamic banks BNI Syariah, Bank Syariah Mandiri and BRI Syariah.
Despite its brief history, BSI is the key player for Islamic finance in Indonesia and competes with the likes of CIMB Niaga and Maybank Indonesia, both of which are arms of Malaysia’s leading banks. BSI, led by chief executive Hery Gunardi, is now the largest Islamic bank in Indonesia. As of the end of March, it had assets of Rp234.4 trillion ($16.4 billion) and had a customer base of 15 million.
BSI has the clear advantage of being able to build off the customer base and capabilities of its founding banks. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, accounting for about 87% of the total. However, Islamic banking had not traditionally been embraced by the country's retail clients, although that is changing. CEO Gunardi has been vocal about his plans for the bank, stating that BSI will double its assets in the next three or four years as it chases Indonesia's millennials.
The